


About the practicallity of not being a caster.

by Whyme12



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Cyrus can and will act like Hermione Granger, Gen, I needed to think off spellnames as "A gReAt InFeRnO To ScOrCh ThE LaNd" was just not cutting it, Is this how I am trying to explain Olberic's lack of spellcasting? Yes thank you for asking, Olberic is lowkey a bit scared of using magic, daily reminder to never write at 11PM kids, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29225898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whyme12/pseuds/Whyme12
Summary: Olberic's lack of spellcasting options does not go unnoticed by one local scholar.
Relationships: Cyrus Albright & Olberic Eisenberg
Kudos: 7





	About the practicallity of not being a caster.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, when I said later this month I meant when I stop procrastinating. Anyways, enjoy my idiotic take on canon.

Being on the road was certainly a new thing for Olberic. His travels as a knight had concluded  
years ago. But, now that he was making his way to victors hollow to find Gustav it seemed he was not the only one  
with problems. The band of travelers that had kindly helped him defeat Gaston had issues of their own as well  
He had barely picked up on their names nor their reasons.

“Sir Eisenberg!” Olberic looked to his side, forgetting where his train of thought was going. One of the older members of the band, Cyrus, if Olberic remembered correctly, was almost sprinting towards him.  
“Aye, that is my name,” It still felt abnormal having his actual name spoken after such a while. He would have to adjust to that soon enough.  
“Hate to be a bother, but I have a few queries about your combat capabilities.”  
Now that was something Olberic had answers for, opposed to the hundreds of questions about the history of Hornburg the scholar had bombarded him with on their first meeting.  
“That is something I can answer. What might those be?”  
“Well, I always like keeping a note on our party’s abilities. It makes picking our fights and strategies a lot more tactical.” Cyrus opened a notebook he had been holding, scribbling something down “We were all able to bear witness to your exquisite talent with the sword and spear. But, I have noticed one thing. You have not cast a single spell since the moment of our meeting.”  
Olberic had not expected his lack of spells would be noticed so quickly. It was true, he had absolutely no prowess with magic, but he had always liked to think that his expertise with the sword made up for it.  
“So,” Cyrus continued, not batting an eye, “What do you cast?”  
Olberic wanted to think up some excuse. He had seen what Cyrus could do with magic. All other members of their group had at least some competence with spellcasting. Even the huntress, H’aanit, had shown herself capable with lightning. He was alone in his weakness.  
“Nothing?” the statement sounded more like a question.  
Cyrus stayed silent for a moment, before bursting into a fit of laughter. Blood flowed to Olberic’s cheeks. He was a little lad last time he had tried to do anything with magic. And after almost burning the classroom down, he had not dared to try again.  
“You must be kidding?” It became clear to Olberic that Cyrus was not laughing at him, a relief atleast.  
“I am sadly not.”  
Cyrus frowned, writing something down, “That is indeed peculiar. How can you even survive without the use of magic? Many fiends in the realm are invulnerable to your blade however skilled you may be!”  
Olberic had a hundred answers to give, sadly, none sounded very convincing at the moment.  
“I ought to teach you myself then! I cannot let someone in this band be without magical defense!” Cyrus slammed the book shut.  
The idea was interesting to Olberic, as interesting as it was terrifying. But, by the glimmer in Cyrus’ eyes, he could guess the scholar would not be deterred from this new challenge.  
“Meet me tomorrow, morn. We should have enough time to walk you through the basics,” and with that, the scholar left Olberic to his thoughts.

This was certainly going to be interesting.

Olberic had no motivation nor will to learn magic.

He had always admired people with the skill, from a safe distance. Magic had always seemed off to him, something everyone could use well, except him. He had been fine with that fact for his entire life, being a knight required only motivation to wield a blade.

Cyrus Albright did require him to learn it.

“So, the first incantations is one even an apprentice should be able to do effortlessly.”  
Olberic wanted to point out he was far from the level of an apprentice, but he kept his mouth shut.  
“Just say it after me, Infernius!”  
A burst of flames flew from Cyrus’s hand, setting a nearby pile of wood on fire.  
Cyrus’s face whitened “Oh dear.”  
After a good minute or two of stomping out the fire, the threat of the woodpile had been neutralized.  
“Now that the example has been demonstrated, you trie.” Cyrus gave him the patient smile all teachers give their students.  
Olberic took a deep breath, if he was going to make a fool out of himself he might as well do it now.  
“InferNIus!”  
After a few seconds of silence, it became clear the incantation had not worked.  
“See,” Olberic hastily added, “No talent! My apologies, Cyrus, but I must return to the thing I am good at: swordsmanship.” He had never felt so panicked in his life. He had fought on countless battlefields, been in a life or death situation more times than he could count, but he was scared of making a mistake children made.  
“Giving up already?” Cyrus remarked, “After one error? Seems a bit off for the man claiming to have no fears.”  
Olberic’s remark was stabbing him in the back. He sighed. “When you say it like that-”  
“Besides, the only thing that was off was the pronunciation. It is inFERnius…”  
Another bolt of fire shot from Cyrus’ hand, which he managed to redirect to the nearby lake of water with ease.  
“Not inferNIus,” Cyrus looked back at Olberic, a smile on his lips, “Now you try!”  
Olberic took another deep breath, “InFERnius!”  
The inferno that he produced came out much larger than expected, a few trees near the site he tried to redirect it at caught on fire.  
“…Old habits die hard, it seems,” Olberic muttered.  
The next few minutes Cyrus tried to put the fire out with shards of ice, while Olberic sat back, hoping the scholar would just give up.  
“Well…” Cyrus turned around the face Olberic, “It seems that you said the spell far too loud, causing it to become more forceful than I had hoped.”  
How the loudness of a spell could affect its power was something Olberic could not grasp.  
“But, mistakes are always a great teacher! Let us try again, softer this time.”  
Olberic stood up, groaning. It was probably the most unthankful and impolite thing he had ever done, but failing at something he despised was still not something he was fond of.  
“InFERnius,” this time the flame came out small enough for Olberic to aim it at the lake. The fire disappeared in a matter of seconds, but the heat was enough to make Olberic recoil.  
“That is what I was talking about!” Cyrus exclaimed.

The next few hours Cyrus ran through Olberic through every kind of basic elements he could control himself. Olberic was still very much untalented at ice magic and whatever he was supposed to control light was beyond his grasp. But, a noticeable trend of improvement began. As the sun set Olberic’s skills with magic were still abominable, but good enough for him to not set the trees on fire, or impale Cyrus on ice shards.  
“Wonderful!” Cyrus yelled from across the field as Olberic summoned a small layer of snow.

A smile ran across Olberic’s lips, maybe he hated failing at magic, but he might like succeeding at it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking around till the end! Have a good day, y'all deserve it.


End file.
